tv America This Morning ABC April 24, 2012 4:00am-4:30am PDT
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this morning, fall from grace. >> it is day two of damaging testimony against john edwards. testimony from the star witness' one-time best friend, could put edwards in prison for years. also on the stand, superstar jennifer hudson. tearful testimony against the man accused of killing three members of her family. donor fired. the worker canned after donating a kidney for her boss is demanding she give the organ back. and just in time for the 11:00 news, bears taking over the weatherman's outdoor perch. >> that will get your attention. good tuesday morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm john muller, in for paula faris.
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she's on assignment. more of john edwards' sordid personal life will be made public today in his trial. >> his attorney even committed major sins. but she's out to prove he is not a criminal. abc's tahman bradley has more on the unfolding courtroom drama this morning. tahman? >> reporter: good morning. john edwards' attorney said while the former senator's actions may have been deplorable, they were not illegal. this is day two of the trial. and the jury will hear key testimony today. today is a huge day for prosecutors trying to convict john edwards of violating campaign finance laws. the prosecution's star witness, andrew young, will be back on the stand today to tell what he knew about edwards' affair with rielle hunter. he accuses him of an illegal scheme of keeping hunter from his wife, elizabeth, and from voters during the 2008 presidential campaign.
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>> this was john edwards' idea. john edwards' plan. >> reporter: they plan to play a voicemail on young's phone while the scandal was unfolding. young is far from perfect as a witness. the former edwards aide improperly contacted other witnesses in the case, to ask about their planned testimony. he also had a one-night stand with one of them. back during the 2008 campaign, young claimed that he fathered a baby with rielle hunter, which we later learned was really john edwards' child. >> while john edwards is a loathsome human being and he behaved dispickibly, he didn't engage in criminal action. >> reporter: the main question is injury will need to decide, did john edwards' know about the money? and did he know it was used to save his campaign from embarrassment? >> the difficulty here is going to compiling the type of evidence necessary to prove that this type of payment was for campaign purposes. >> reporter: the edwards' defense team insists the money given to hunter was a gift. if convicted, the charges could
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put edwards behind bars for up to 30 years. rob and john? >> never seen a case like this. all right. tahman bradley, thanks for that live report. voters in five east coast states go to the polls today. it's primary day for republicans in the states of connecticut, delaware, pennsylvania, new york and rhode island. even if romney wins all five states, he will not clinch the nomination with the number of delegates. that's expected next month. the vice president talk is heating up. especially after this photo op with republican rising star, marco rubio. romney stopped short of endorsing rubio's immigration plan. that would allow young illegal immigrants to remain in the u.s. to work or to study. romney is backing a student loan proposal that president obama is backing on the campaign trail. mr. obama traveled to north carolina and colorado today, to urge congress to extend
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low-interest rates for student loans. the stafford rates at 3.4% are set to double come july 1st, affecting more than 7 million students. there's been a surprising vote of confidence for the embattled police chief in sanford, florida. the city council has decided not to accept the resignation of george lee. lee has been criticized for not arresting george zimmerman in the shooting death of trayvon martin. but the commissioner wanted to see how an independent investigation plays out before making a decision. as for zimmerman, he's gone underground after his release from jail. the key suspect in the disappearance of natalee holloway, could soon be sent to the u.s. to face charges. the lawyer for joran van der sloot, confirmed to abc news, his client would not fight extradition. he is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence in peru for a woman he murdered back in 2010. the number of illegal mexican immigrants living in the u.s. is dropping, significantly,
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in fact, for the first time in decades. the report says there were just over 6 million unauthorized mexicans here last year. that's down from a peak of nearly 7 million back in 2007. fewer attractive jobs, as well as stronger border enforcement are among the reasons for the big drop. and two cuban actors, the stars of a film about defecting to the u.s., may be doing just that. they were supposed to be in new york for the movie's premier. but they disappeared after landing in miami. immigration officials don't know where they are. they have a year to apply for asylum. a week after basking in summer-like warmth, people in the northeast are breaking out snow shovels. digging out from a late-season nor'easter that dumped up to a foot of snow in pennsylvania and new york. schools were closed. and 75,000 customers lost power. that storm triggered superhigh waves that topped 14 feet. surfers on lake ontario couldn't wait to hang ten. they thought the conditions were ideal. even though the temperatures in
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the lake hover around the 32-degree mark. >> those guys are braver than i today around erie, pennsylvania, buffalo, new york, and also in northern new england. blustery with off-and-on showers in boston, new york, and d.c. thunderstorms out west in northern california, seattle and montana. some snow in the cascades. and heating up in parts of the southwest. 95 in phoenix. 92 in colorado springs. 80s from salt lake city to billings. 62 in chicago. 80 in kansas city. 84 in dallas. miami gets up to 77. mostly 60s from atlanta to boston. coming up next after the break, the troubling news about social security. it's being drained faster than first thought. and then, a plan getting a big push today. a mining operation in space. and motown night on the dance floor last night, with some pretty surprising final scores. we'll be right back. @@q ú
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social security feeling the economic heat. new projections show the fund will run out of money in 2033, three years sooner than expected. a huge wave of retiring baby-boomers straining the coffers. people living too long. projections for the medicare program did not change. it's expected to run out of money in 2024. the postal service also suffering from money troubles. while members on capitol hill are expected to vote on a major overhaul of the service later today. among the considerations, whether to offer buyouts to hundreds of thousands of employees and whether to continue saturday mail delivery. well, europe's woes are
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unsettling the global markets after the dutch government fell over its budget woes. tokyo's nikkei average lost another 74 points today. hong kong's hang seng was higher in late trading. in london, the ftse opened higher, too. on wall street, the dow fell 102 points yesterday. the nasdaq index lost 30. well, apple issues its quarterly earnings report today. and it's expected to be yet another whopper. at least some of the profits are being drained from its p.c. competitors and wireless phone carrier partners and from the electronics retailer, best buy. facebook is on a growth spurt. the social networking giant is paying 550 million bucks in cash to microsoft for hundreds of patents it just bought from aol less than two weeks ago. it bought instagram. that helps to bring in cash. the company passed 900 million active users in march. >> it's good to be mark zuckerberg. a group of millionaires and visionaries will reveal its plans for an extraordinary space
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start-up today. director james cameron, and google billionaires, larry page and eric schmidt, are part of the project. their mission here, to send an unmanned spacecraft to an asteroid and then mine it for metal and other natural resources. if anybody can do it, i trust james cameron. coming up next on this tuesday morning, new trouble for the new orleans saints. my beloved saints. not a pretty headline. a second scandal rocking this already embattled team. and fired after donating a kidney in order to save her boss' life. the donor speaks out.
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the flashing lights were storms in africa. one nighttime pass shows great britain and europe all lit up as the space station flew over. everything looks peaceful from space. doesn't it? >> absolutely. calmer than down here. now, for a look at morning road conditions. slight snow could make for a slick ride on i-90, from cleveland to erie, pennsylvania, and buffalo. wet on i-5, from seattle to portland. and i-15, 84 and 90 in the pacific northwest and northern rockies. >> if you're flying, you should have a trouble-free trip. no weather-related delays are expected anywhere in the country. back to the news this morning. jennifer hudson returns to a chicago courtroom today after testifying against her former brother-in-law. he's the man accused of killing her mother and brother and 7-year-old nephew. >> the oscar-winning actress and singer was the first to take the stand in the triple-murder trial. she tearfully told the jury, that none of them wanted her sister to marry william balfour. she was so close to her mom, she slept next to her until she was 16 years old.
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the search for a missing 6-year-old girl is resuming this morning at a tucson, arizona, landfill. isabel was not in her room. and a window was open in the room. police have questioned some sex offenders in the area. on top of that, authorities also started combing through the landfill yesterday. but they're not saying just yet, if they found any clues. and here in new york, the search for a basement yielding no significant clues in the case of 6-year-old etan patz who disappeared back in 1979. investigators say the search is now over. and that it came up with no obvious human remains and little forensic evidence. also here in new york, a woman claims she donated a kidney to save her boss' life but then got fired. now, attorneys for the woman are filing a lawsuit. that donor, debbie stevens, said she was berated when she went home sick, three days after returning to her job at a car dealership.
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stevens said she made the donation to her boss, simply out of the goodness of her heart. >> i did not do this for job security. i thought that i had a job there based on merit and hard work. >> her lawyer is now filing a discrimination lawsuit for millions of dollars in compensation. police in santa fe, new mexico, are looking for clues to help them identify a man who fired a gun at a speed enforcement van parked at an intersection there. the van's camera captured the entire incident that happened in the early-morning hours. take a look. the shooter in sleeping gown, pulls up to the van in his car, gets out and starts blasting away. thankfully, the van was empty. >> bizarre footage there. my beloved new orleans saints, have yet another scandal on their hands. this one has nothing to do with any bounties. get this. a report by our colleagues at espn, says a booth in the superdome, used by saints general manager mickey loomis, was wired so he could eavesdrop on opposing coaches during games. the booth was used from '02 to '04, and was disabled when the dome was damaged during hurricane katrina.
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the saints are denying this latest report, calling it 1,000% false. what a rough off-season for the black and gold. man. now, for last night's sports highlights, we get those from espn news. >> this is your "sportscenter" update. i'm max bretos. for the great regular season they had, the rangers lose monday to the senators and their season is done. in the first, no score, until the breakthrough. zack smith, in front of the goal. and chris neil makes it 1-0. second period. same score. brad richards. derek stepan, beats craig anderson. the rangers find a way, after their offense struggled mightily. rangers with the five-on-three. the blast from richards. it's 2-1 for the men in blue. time winding down in the third. jason spezza, shot and save by henrik lundqvist in front.
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lundqvist argues the call. it would go under review. clearly, it went off neil's skate. but it's still ruled a goal. senators down 3-2. last chance. they don't get it done. game seven in new york, on thursday. speaking of new york, the rangers, hosting the yankees down in texas. there's pudge rodriguez. throws it out to second. top of the first, bases loaded. curtis granderson. a single that would drive in robinson cano and derek jeter. yankees up 2-0. yankees up 2-0. c.c. sabathia on the mound. he slowed down the rangers' bats just enough to allow his guys to get the upper hand. and alex rodriguez gets the three-run shot. yankees, 6-1, in the fifth. top of the sixth, jeter to the opposite field. jeter, four for five on the game.
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yankees win it, 7-4. thursday night, primetime, it's day one of the nfl draft. you can see it on espn. you can see the entire draft on espn. well, one more dancer gets bounced from the ballroom tonight on abc's big hit, "dancing with the stars." actually, it was motown night last night. and the highest score was british opera singer, katherine jenkins. good morning, katherine. in second place is jaleel white. one judge called his cha-cha, the biggest sizzler of the season. >> gladys knight to the bottom of the leaderboard. the live audience loved her rumba. but the judges didn't like it so much. roshon fegan did a rumba. he's in second-to-last place going into tonight's elimination. coming up next after the break, bears, yes, bears, interrupt the 11:00 news. you have to see this. and what's going on at the heart attack grill? place that offers its
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[ jennifer ] better. believe. happier. healthier. i believe weight watchers made me more powerful. it's time to believe again. stand up and take charge. i believe if you want to change your life, you can. ♪ believe in yourself [ female announcer ] weight watchers -- rated number one best plan for weight loss by u.s. news and world report, again. join for free weight watchers. believe. because it works. all right. welcome back, everybody. time to check out "the pulse" this morning, beginning with an occupatia weatherman at our scranton affiliate. >> this is from last night's
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11:00 news. >> this is the first time i've seen a bear on live television. >> i saw a bear one night on a commercial break. but he scooted away before we came back live. this is more than one.le family. it's a whole family. >> yes, momma bear and her cubs who just happened to wander into that newscast. they do the weather forecast there from what they call the backyard. might have to rethink that given the risk apparently involved. >> the weatherman is hiding under the bench there. >> yeah. no live shot. good call. you have to see this close call. it comes to us from russia. a busy road there. keep your eye on the left side of the screen. it's coming. that woman -- oh. >> unbelievable. that woman not paying attention. walking straight into traffic. she just keeps going. thank goodness the ambulance driver saw her and stopped in the nick of time. >> just keep it -- >> like it's new york.
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>> nothing happened here. is there any reason to question how over 250,000 people are injured every year on russia's roads? like she wasn't paying attention. lucky lady. >> just walks right on. no sorry. >> thank you for not killing me. >> have a good one. the heart attack grill has done it again. another customer collapsing at the las vegas restaurant. >> living up to its name. witnesses say the woman fell unconscious while eating a double-bypass burger. it's still not clear if her condition was related to the artery-clogging meal. the grill prides itself on unhealthy dishes including flat-liner fries. >> a man passed out in february while eating a 6,000-calorie burger. responding to the latest collapse, the owner said the customer got what most customers want, a brush with death. >> the last supper. on this shift, that burger looks good. >> i'd love to have one of those. >> take it easy. >> all right. more local news is coming up right next. >> for everyone else, teens on a joyride. guess who was watching. the police. we'll be right back.
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next, breaking news from the south bay whp trying to determine what led up to an accident that left a pedestrian severely injured. >> plus, find out how the case of missing morgan hill teen is sparking policy changes for a school district. drizzle to content with scattered showers and thunderstorm the next couple of days. >> complete look at traffic. join us next updating the top stories. the key prosecution witness back on the stand in the john edwards
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corruption trial. andrew young said his boss took campaign cash to keep an affair secret. the police chief of sanford, florida, keeps his job for now. commissioners refused to accept bill lee's resignation. mitt romney on the campaign trail today. his primary voters go to the polls in five northeast states. romney won't clinch the nomination until next month. light snow from northern new england, to western pennsylvania. scattered showers from boston to d.c. and afternoon thunderstorms from seattle to billings. and finally this half hour, uh-oh. another case of everything not exactly being as it seems. this one comes to us from new mexico, where a bunch of kids stole a car for a little bit of a joyride. >> little did they know, that's what the police wanted. liz mcinearn joins us from albuquerque. >> reporter: you can hear the
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excitement in the air, as a boy goes for a joyride in northwest albuquerque. but he won't do it alone. >> god. dang. >> what the [ bleep ]? >> out of here. >> oh, dog. you're crazy. >> i know, dog. >> how did you get this? >> i love you. >> how did you get this? >> reporter: the answer comes a little more later, after a couple of friends jump in on the action. >> how did you get there? >> i don't know. i saw this car with the keys. and i opened the door. it was unlocked. i grabbed the keys. i was like, this is the car. >> reporter: but the kids realize they have to have a plan. >> oh, my god. what if we go to jail for this? >> we have to bounce if the cops are here. i'm happening out. and running for my life. probation. and if i get caught. >> reporter: so, what's the plan? one idea, torch the stolen car in the arroyo or blame it on someone else. >> this is grand theft auto.
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>> hey. >> oh, my god. >> if they start asking, none of us did it. was some other -- we got the car. that what's up and leave. >> reporter: it doesn't take long for the mood to change when the kids see lights in the rear-view mirror. >> oh, my god. it's the cops. that's a cop. >> that's a cop. >> [ bleep ]. >> get your hands up. let me see your hands. get your hands up. >> wow. >> rolling. >> yeah. >> definitely over. coming up later on "good morning america" today, more behind the scenes drama from last night's "dancing with the stars." >> we'll find out who is looking good in tonight's round. >> that's what's making news in america this morning. >> have a great tuesday, everybody. >> thanks for watching. c closed captioning by closed captioning services,inc
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